Midwestern State coach Bill Maskill definitely knows his players and his team better after a trying week of tragedy capped by the team going to Robert Grays’ funeral Saturday in Houston.

But on the field and in the film room, Maskill only has half as much evidence to work with as his Lone Star Conference counterparts. The Mustangs (2-0) have climbed to No. 12 in Division II, but it’s on the strength of just two wins. The other eight LSC teams have all played four times.

Add in a practice that had to be moved inside Tuesday because of lightning and rain all day Wednesday in Wichita Falls and Maskill believes he’s got a team ready to play football again. The Mustangs will play at home at 7 p.m. Saturday against Western New Mexico.

“I’m not worried about it (another layoff), but you’re concerned how we’ll play after a tragedy and going indoors (Tuesday),” Maskill said. “We got to do what we’ve got to do.”

But he feels Saturday in Houston was a victory.

“I think the funeral because it was a such an emotional high really helped,” Maskill said. “You’re never going to bring closure to it, but it helped to see the family. It really was a celebration. The players saw that and felt it.

“Every one of the kids I’ve talked to have said they’re glad they went and it was a really good positive experience. Most funerals are not a positive experience. It was somewhat of a closure and as every day goes by we get back into more normalcy.”

LOOKING BACK: There was nothing normal about the win over Kingsville because of the tragic and fatal injury to cornerback Robert Grays. But Maskill has went back over it and liked what the offense did, minus two turnovers and some untimely penalties.

Defensively, the Mustangs had five straight stops to start the game, but also allowed a 17-play drive and couldn’t get the ball back to the offense quickly in the second half.

“We still don’t know what kind of pass rush we have,” Maskill said.

A year ago MSU defeated WNMU 43-22 in a game that wasn’t quite that easy. It was just 21-15 early in the fourth quarter.

LOOKING AHEAD: Maskill said the visiting Mustangs (0-4) will “throw it, throw it and continue to throw it. They’ve got a quarterback (Javia Hall) who can wing the ball pretty good. He went to UTEP and has a good arm.”

Hall leads the LSC with 413 passing yards per game. He has been intercepted nine times and averages 54.5 pass attempts per game. That’s a lot of chances to rush the passer for an MSU defense that has eight sacks in two games.

“They’re 0-4 but a dangerous 0-4,” Maskill added.

SIMPLY THE BEST: It’s a small sample, but the Mustangs lead the LSC in points per game (44) and points allowed (9.5). MSU is also first in yards per game (496) despite not running as many plays as it’d like to. Speaking of plays, Layton Rabb’s crew is averaging an insane 8.6 yards per play. The next-best in the league is A&M-Commerce at 6.4.

LUNCH WITH MUSTANGS: The MSU Athletics luncheon is set for noon Thursday at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art.